According to music director Michael Butterman, the performance Tuesday night on the Kennedy Center stage "felt like a pep rally." The concert — which was also presented last Saturday at the University of Colorado's Macky Auditorium before the orchestra embarked to the nation's capital — was the biggest-selling of the festival.

Michael Butterman conducts the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra as it performs with the Frequent Flyers aerial dance troupe on Tuesday, March 28, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as part of the Shift Festival. (Jati Lindsay)

"We had spokespeople for the Kennedy Center prep the audience, along with our congressman, Jared Polis, who formally introduced us," Butterman said. "There were multiple mentions of the National Endowment for the Arts, which drew massive support from the crowd." By the time Butterman came on stage, he said, the audience was "warmed up and prepped to have a really fun experience."

Butterman said that he thinks the reason the concert sold so well was that it had so many elements that are atypical for a symphony concert. There were three contemporary works, including one by composer Stephen Lias, whose world premiere was at Macky on Saturday. A mandolin virtuoso and composer, Jeff Midkiff, played his own concerto ("From the Blue Ridge") along with a rousing encore.

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"There was a spontaneous standing ovation for Jeff's concerto, and the encore got an even quicker reaction," Butterman said. Like the Boulder audience, the Kennedy Center crowd was enamored with "Ghosts of the Grassland" by Steve Heitzeg. "We've done the piece a couple of times now," Butterman said, "and each time people have found a way to contact both me and the composer, Steve, saying they didn't know what to expect, but it was exactly the kind of music they love to hear."

The most novel experience for the Kennedy Center audience, however, was the performance of Frequent Flyers aerial dance, choreographed to Aaron Copland's beloved ballet score "Appalachian Spring." Butterman said that while Boulder audiences are familiar with Frequent Flyers, this was unlike anything the Washington crowd had ever seen. "They have seen things like Cirque de la Symphonie," Butterman said, "but this is entirely different, a sustained aerial performance for 23 minutes involving five dancers working together. For them, it was overwhelmingly impressive and fresh, and the applause began before the last notes ended."

As for the experience of the orchestra on that vaunted stage, Butterman said that "when we started making music at the rehearsal, it was clear that we could hear each other in a way quite different from what we have experienced in Boulder, either at our Dairy (Arts) Center rehearsal space or at Macky." He explained that the acoustics on the stage "allowed us to play more competently and with greater precision in the ensemble." This was evident even before they had finished the run of the Lias piece. "Even in the audience people said that this hall loves this orchestra."

The attention from the stage staff and the festival organizers was also entirely new for the orchestra. "We are a per service regional orchestra that performs less than 10 programs a year," Butterman said, "and having that level of professionalism around us made us feel really special." He continues: "We had the sense that they were proud to be featuring a regional orchestra as the opening festival event ... We had distinguished ourselves in that category of orchestra, and everyone wanted to give their best."

The result was "the best performance of my experience with them ever," Butterman said, adding that he really didn't think he was exaggerating that point. "It was truly exceptional." There was a large contingent of patrons from Boulder who made the trip, and a group of high school students from Virginia's Patrick Henry High School, where Midkiff teaches, was also in attendance. And students of the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras were able to travel with the Phil and give their own performance earlier in the evening.

As for experiences surrounding the concert, Butterman noted that the musical nature hikes led by Boulder's Dave Sutherland on Monday in Rock Creek Park were completely full. On Wednesday morning, after the concert, four different ensembles from the Phil played outdoors around the Tidal Basin. Butterman himself played piano with his violinist wife, Jennifer Carsillo. "We played right next to the Jefferson Memorial," he said. Despite a little chilliness and wind, he said that it was a delightful experience. "It was such a picture perfect, sunny day, and the cherry blossoms are at their peak right now."

Some musicians and patrons from Boulder had a chance to discuss the future of orchestras that think outside the box. A group of them was able to meet with staff members from the offices of Colorado senators Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet to advocate for arts funding. "It was a wonderful commitment and an admirable thing to do," Butterman said. "They showed a real dedication to getting the most out of their time in Washington."

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